Welcome to the 6th annual AGMasters Conference! We recognize you have other options when it comes to educational programs and we value your participation at this event. Each year, our program committee strives to offer a line-up of speakers and topics that will make your experience at this conference relevant, stimulating, and also translate into a productive growing season in 2015.

The conference begins with a general session that features speakers covering a variety of topics including: potential water protection rules and standards, implications of the new Farm Bill, agrichemical/agribusiness/industry education initiatives, and the practical implications of evolutionary principles regarding resistance development by insects, plant pathogens, and weeds. Following the general session, the program will be devoted to 16 specialized sessions, each repeated once. Topics offered include the following: cover crops, managing big data, refining herbicide application techniques, Palmer amaranth biology/ecology, western corn rootworm resistance to Bt, understanding and managing Pythium, methods to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses, white mold and soybean production, Fusarium head blight of wheat, use of drones for aerial scouting, advance in corn genetics, management of insects in stored grain, and soybean management with pollinator considerations.

One of the key strengths that this conference offers is the diversity of speakers from land grant universities. This year is no different with experts featured from many institutions such as: Iowa State University, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Guelph, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, and the University of Wisconsin. As always, the biggest challenge faced by this year’s participants is selecting only eight of the sixteen workshops that are offered.

We hope that your investment in this conference creates some new approaches, ideas, and considerations in the rapidly changing crop production and protection arenas. Please let us know at any point during the next 2 days how we can improve your overall experience. Again, thanks for your participation in the 2014 AGMasters Conference.